Indian-style Sausage Curry and a tribute to my mom

Often people ask me the question, ‘who is your biggest inspiration to cook?’ And I have always answered blindly – my mom. The truth is that I have never really sat down and thought about it. But finally I did and the answers surprised me.

My biggest inspiration to cook comes from myself. My mom has never directly influenced me to cook, let alone get into the kitchen. She grew up as a tomboy and got into cooking only after marriage. And everything she has learnt since is self-taught. She never turned to her own mum for culinary advice nor did she have a mother-in-law in her new home. And so she believes that no one needs to be taught cooking – you learn it when you have to cook and if you have the passion for it.

Having said that, my talent for cooking comes from my mother. It is purely genetic and all who have sampled my mum’s cooking will completely agree to this. In fact, my entire creative gene comes from my mother. Like I already mentioned my mum is a completely self-taught woman, a hardworking, courageous woman who might not have gone to college but can easily hold a conversation with anyone on any subject. Her desire and quest for knowledge is infectious – the singular trait that she has always tried to instill in her daughters. She taught us to be strong, be confident, be proud of being a woman and never take ‘no’ for an answer.

And now when I have started a food blog, I know she secretly feels proud of it. She does not understand blogging and its technicalities but she is super proud that her daughter is doing something creative and letting the world see her talents. But I also hear and feel the twinge of regret in her voice that she has never been able to take her talent (which is so much more than what I have) to the world and achieve something of her own. And even though I know she will never read this blog post, I still want to tell her that all I know about cooking or understanding flavours comes from you, albeit indirectly, for you have always paved the way for me, pushed boundaries and I will always be proud to say, ‘my cooking journey began as your little assistant.’

My mom hates posing for photographs and I have very few with her and this one is most precious of all….on my wedding day just before entering church. A priceless moment for me!

Hence today’s dish had to be something from my childhood. It is a dish that my mum made often while we used to live in the Middle East.

Frozen sausages were commonly available in those days but it was a totally foreign ingredient for my mum and she came up with this Indian style curry using sausages which goes amazingly well with hot phulkas. I have lost count of the number of people who has learnt this dish from her including her own daughters.

I have used fresh sausages in this dish instead of the frozen ones; you can use just about any type that you want but remember that if you are using flavoured ones, then it adds to the flavour of the final dish so make sure that you pair the spices accordingly. Though we usually have this curry with hot breads or chappathis, I did try it out as a sandwich filling and the result was lip smacking.

So here’s the recipe for a sausage curry – a classic Indian curry with sweet, spicy and aromatic flavours.

1. Grill or shallow fry the sausages and slice into medium-sized pieces.
2. In another pan, heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil and add the sliced onions. Saute for 5 minutes.
3. Add the ginger, garlic, curry leaves and sauté till the onions are light brown.
4. Once browned, add the spice powders and sauté for another minute on low heat.
5. Add the tomatoes and sauté till a mushy consistency is reached.
6. Add ½ cup water, bring to boil and season with salt. Remember that sausages have salt in it so add accordingly.
7. Add the sausages and cook on medium heat till done. Garnish with coriander leaves.

36 thoughts on “Indian-style Sausage Curry and a tribute to my mom”

[…] fried, curried; you name it. During my childhood, the most common way I enjoyed these were as a sausage curry which we used to have with kubbuiz (Arabic bread) or chappathis (Indian flat bread). Or my mum used […]

Dear mam, i was looking for some awesome sausage dishes when i found urs. i plan to make it on Christmas for dinner along with brownies & surprise my mum cuz she is exactly like ur mum except being a tomboy. i am trying to learn cooking by watching youtube video,but i take inspiration from mum. i am in college now (first year). so time to time i try making something new. recently i made penne pasta, it was delicious and my mum praised me too.

i just wanted to ask that can i either skip the garlic cloves or replace it with something else cuz i have been avoided from eating it for few months so could u please help me?
i promise to send u reply after i make it on Christmas. will be following ur post from time to time.

Thanks for all your compliments and great to hear that you want to make your mom feel special. You can skip the garlic by all means; should not make too much of a difference and if you wish, you can add a pinch of hing when you add the other spices. Just a pinch….

This post is really sweet. What’s funny is it has a lot of parallels with my life as well. My mother also has a very similar recipie except she adds potatoes as well! And she used to make it all the time when I was kid growing up in dubai. I was really missing home today and asked my mother for her recipie, but before she could reply to me via messages, I found your post online. Thank you so much for making my day! Di

I think every Indian kid who lived in Dubai would have fond memories of this dish. Glad to hear that you came across this recipe and so with you when you say that you are missing your mom sweetie. I am missing mine too….

thanks dear. I was planning to write to you anyway about the guest post. My email id is vanya_dhanya@yahoo.com ; its better to mail each other when u send in the recipe and pics. Also I would like to get to know u better so a brief of your life and your foray into food blogging would be lovely.

the write up about your mom…..brought a lump to my throat babe. so straight from the heart and touching. To bring up such a lovely kid like you….she surely is an awesome mom by example. The sausage dish…..just like all your other dishes….simple…wholesome and utterly yum. Thanks Dhanya….reading this…at the end of a terribly hectic…and not so good day…..has calmed me no end. Love u babe.

Beautiful and touching post Dhanya! I have the similar kind of story so I kind of know how you feel about inheriting from mom but not learning directly from her. Awesome gorgeous pictures and surely a delish dish. I might try with veg sausages ;).